Scoville scale

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Naga Jolokia (naga morich, bhut jolokia), the Indian chili tested hottest in the world at 1,040,000 SHU.

The Red Savina pepper, one of the hottest chilis, is rated at 580,000 SHU. Only the Naga Jolokia is hotter.

The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness or, more correctly, piquancy of a chili pepper. These fruits of the Capsicum genus contain capsaicin, a chemical compound which stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Some hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point.

The scale is named after its creator, American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who developed a test for rating the pungency of chili peppers. His method, which he devised in 1912,^[1] is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. An alternative method of quantitative analysis, known as high-performance liquid chromatography, directly measures capsaicinoids and attempts to relate the measured chemical values to the Scoville scale using a mathematical conversion factor.

1 Scoville Organoleptic Test
2 High-performance liquid chromatography (the Gillett Method)
3 List of Scoville ratings
4 References

Scoville Organoleptic Test

In Scoville's method, as originally devised, a solution of the pepper extract is diluted in sugar water until the "heat" is no longer detectable to a panel of (usually five) tasters; the degree of dilution gives its measure on the Scoville scale. Thus a capsicum, sweet pepper or a bell pepper, containing no capsaicin at all, has a Scoville rating of zero, meaning no heat detectable, even undiluted. Conversely, the hottest chiles, such as habaneros, have a rating of 200,000 or more, indicating that their extract has to be diluted 200,000-fold before the capsaicin present is undetectable. The greatest weakness of the Scoville Organoleptic Test is its imprecision, because it relies on human subjectivity.

High-performance liquid chromatography (the Gillett Method)

Image:Red capsicum and cross section.jpg

A Bell Pepper has a Scoville rating of zero

Spice heat is now usually measured by a method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This identifies and measures the heat-producing chemicals. They are then used in a mathematical formula in which they are weighted according to their relative capacity to produce a sensation of heat. This method yields results, not in Scoville units, but in ASTA pungency units. A measurement of one part capsaicin per million corresponds to about 15 Scoville units, and the published method says that ASTA pungency units can be multiplied by 15 and reported as Scoville units. This conversion is approximate, and Tainter and Grenis say that there is consensus that it gives results about 20–40% lower than the actual Scoville method would have given.^[2]

List of Scoville ratings

Pungency values for any pepper, stated in Scoville units, are imprecise, due to expected variation within a species—easily by a factor of 10 or more—depending on seed lineage, climate and even soil (this is especially true of habaneros). The inaccuracies described in the measurement methods above also contribute to the imprecision of these values. When interpreting Scoville ratings, this should be kept in mind.^[2]^[3]

**Scoville scale**
Scoville rating	Type of pepper
15,000,000–16,000,000	Pure capsaicin^[4]
9,100,000	Nordihydrocapsaicin
2,000,000–5,300,000	Standard U.S. Grade pepper spray ^[5]
855,000–1,041,427	Naga Jolokia ^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]
350,000–577,000	Red Savina Habanero
100,000–350,000	Habanero chili,^[10] Scotch Bonnet ^[10]
100,000–200,000	Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper ^[5], African Birdseye
50,000–100,000	Thai Pepper, Malagueta Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper
30,000–50,000	Cayenne Pepper, Ají pepper ^[10], Tabasco pepper
10,000–23,000	Serrano Pepper
5,000–10,000	Wax Pepper
4,500–5,000	New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper ^[11]
2,500–8,000	Jalapeño Pepper
1,500–2,500	Rocotillo Pepper
1,000–1,500	Poblano Pepper
500–2,500	Anaheim pepper ^[12]
100–500	Pimento ^[5], Pepperoncini
0	No heat, Bell pepper ^[5]

References

^ The Journal of the American Pharmacists Association 1912; 1:453–4
^ ^a ^b Tainter, Donna R.; Anthony T. Grenis (2001). Spices and Seasonings. Wiley-IEEE, p.30. ISBN 0-471-35575-5. — "Interlab variation [for the original Scoville scale] could be as high as + / - 50%. However, labs that run these procedures could generate reasonably repeatable results."
^ Uhl, Sushella. "Fire and Spice", Food Product Design, May 1996. — "Scoville unit measurements cause errors due to build up of heat, rapid taste fatigue, increased taste threshold, and poor reproducibility. Scott Harris, technical service manager for Cal Compack Foods, Santa Ana, CA is quoted as saying "The coefficient of error is 50% for the Scoville method and less than 12% for the HPLC method."
^ Uhl (1996), op. cit. "The HPLC measures the capsaicinoid(s) in ppm, which can then be converted to Scoville units using a conversion factor of 15, 20 or 30 depending on the capsaicinoid." This would make capsaicin 15,000,000
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d de Bruxelles, Simon. "The chilli so hot you need gloves", Times, 1 April 2006.
^ By commercial HPLC analysis in 2004.
^ High SC rating report for Jolokia acknowledged as sighted by Dorset Naga cultivar developer.
^ Shaline L. Lopez (2007). NMSU is home to the world’s hottest chile pepper (html). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
^ AP. "World's hottest chili pepper a mouthful for prof", CNN, 23 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-03-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chile Pepper Heat Scoville Scale. About.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
^ Anaheim Pepper. Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
^ Anaheim Pepper. Truestar Health Encyclopedia (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-17.